In copending application Ser. No. 495,714, filed May 18, 1983, Railway Brake Pressure Monitor, Pomeroy, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention, a railway brake pressure monitor is disclosed that comprises a sensor/transmitter unit and a remote display unit. In use, the sensor/transmitter unit is mounted on the last vehicle of a railway train and is coupled with the brake pipe of the last vehicle, and the remote display unit is mounted in the locomotive of the railway train. The sensor/transmitter unit includes means for providing an output signal proportional to the air pressure within the brake pipe, means for repetitively monitoring this output signal to measure the value of brake pipe air pressure, means for storing the brake pipe air pressure value, and means for repetitively transmitting a report including the brake pipe air pressure value that is currently stored. The remote display unit includes means for receiving each report from the sensor/transmitter unit, means for extracting the brake pipe air pressure value in each report, and means for displaying the brake pipe air pressure value.
As disclosed in said copending application, the components of the sensor/transmitter unit are mounted in and on a housing. A coupler mount assembly is secured to the coupler at the rear of the last vehicle of the railway train and permits the housing to be readily mounted on and removed from the coupler. The coupler mount assembly includes an open-sided rectangular portion that fits over the knuckle of the coupler. A drawbar fits through aligned openings in the top and bottom walls of the rectangular portion of the coupler mount assembly and through a flag-mounting hole in the coupler knuckle, and is retained in place by an enlarged head at its upper end and by a clip passing through a transverse bore at its lower end. Once the coupler mount assembly has been mounted on the coupler knuckle, the coupler mount assembly is secured thereto by a bolt threadedly engaged in a rear side wall of the rectangular portion of the coupler mount assembly, the bolt bearing against an exterior face of the knuckle to force a bar secured to and extending from an inner front side wall of the rectangular portion into engagement with an opposing, interior face of the knuckle. The coupler mount assembly is provided with a rearwardly opening U-shaped bracket that fits between the coupler knuckle and an opposing portion of the coupler, and the housing of the sensor/transmitter unit is received within and secured to this U-shaped bracket.
Due to the location of the coupler mount assembly and the housing between the coupler knuckle and an opposing portion of the coupler, the coupler cannot be engaged with the coupler of another railway vehicle. Although this location does not present a problem when the railway train has been assembled, it does necessitate removal of not only the housing but also the coupler mount assembly when the train is reassembled or when it is necessary for any reason to couple another railway vehicle to the last vehicle of the train. In this railway brake pressure monitor application and, in fact, in any application in which it is desired to mount an item of electronics or other equipment on the coupler of a railway vehicle, it is accordingly desirable to provide a coupler mount assembly that need not be removed in order for the coupler to be used.